Tale of Eternity
by sepkiakore
Summary: A group of souls are sent to the future to be spared from death. Safe in their new home, the time comes when they need to reawaken and finish where they left off. But how will they deal with discovering their true selves while fighting a dangerous enemy?
1. The Last Battle

*Disclaimer* I don't own soul calibur nor any characters in this story unless otherwise stated. The plot is of my own creation. Yay? 

Full summary: 

During a dangerous battle, a group of young warriors are sent to the future by an unknown power to save them from their deaths. Safe and happy in their new home, the time comes when they must reawaken to finish the battle, destroying their foe once and for all. But how will they deal with discovering their pasts and who they truly are while fighting this enemy and his minions? 

Across time and the world, their eternal tale continues…

===========================

**Tale of Eternity: Prologue**

"SURRENDER NOW! OR FACE DEATH!!" 

What an offer. 

There he stood, in the middle of that empty field, his body clad with heavy armor and his face hidden from the world. Just like the true nature of the man. The soul of a once genuine, somewhat troubled, warrior was suppressed within his own madness, buried beneath the torment and evil. His body was not much more than a host to the darkness that would seek revenge on humanity in anyway it could. And it had come to this.

Before him, bloody and broken, but not defeated, stood a group of young warriors. They were once very much alike. Free spirited, talented, strong and passionate. If only a trace of his heart still flickered in that shell, perhaps he could see. Perhaps, he could control it. Maybe even stop it all together. But this would not be the case. He had surrendered his heart long before. So instead, he stood their giving them the choice. They wouldn't have it. He knew that much, but giving them a choice made it seem a little more entertaining.

"Surrender or die? Why even bother picking? Either way, we lose our lives," came the ever poised voice of a rowdy pirate. Even to the end, the young man kept a smirk on his face. 

"One way, it hurts less," he boomed in his own attempt at dark humor. Nightmare still couldn't understand why they refused to give up. All of them. So naïve and overconfident. Didn't they see that they'd suffer? So many of them were pretty much done for. Already, the little priestess and the younger of the blondes were out of commission. Another blow would leave both of them dead, no doubt. Yet they stood their, refusing to back down. The older blonde woman, that feisty red-head and his companion, the pirate and his friend with the staff, and her… 

"It'd time we put an end to this! You're not going to get away, not this time!"

It was her, the one who bore the Blade, blessed in their eyes but a curse in his own. He could not come in contact with it. And she knew it well, that her weapon was the key to everything. It infuriated him more, made his blood boil over. Just thinking about it made him lose whatever calm he had left. 

"SILENCE!" The spirit of his own sword flared with anger, sending a blast of energy that knocked the fighters down. Winded and taken by surprise, they all looked back, wide eyed and frightened. His own eyes focused only on her, however. His decision was made. She had to be stopped. The power of Soul Calibur only strengthened with the passion of the one who wields it. The bond she shared with it could defeat him, he knew. But anyone else…anyone else, and he could probably survive it. So, she had to die. It was the only way. He knew it. And they knew it by the maddened stare, the only part of his face visible through his armor.

Without any sort of warning, he charged at her. Around him, he could hear the shouts of the others, but they didn't reach him nor did they faze him. Two of the men had jumped into his path. It was that saucy pirate again, this time accompanied by the stoic man bearing Kali Yuga. He knew well they'd try to protect her, but it mattered not now. He tossed them aside like rag dolls. He continued his heavy sprint, Soul Edge raised high above his head, a long yell continuously pouring from his lips. She just sat there, tears now falling down her cheeks, but her sword drawn out regardless as if perhaps she expected it to protect her.

_Fool_, he thought. _She's petrified, frozen stiff. Does she think holding that damned shard of metal in front of her will stop me? Does she think it can save her?_

And it did. 

The rest of that moment was blinded in white; a sharp penetrating light that stabbed at the core of his darkness. It surrounded him like a veil, mercilessly drowning him, swallowing him. It was something he'd never felt before when facing Soul Calibur. What was happening? What was this? But as quickly as it had come, it was gone, and he found himself on the ground, kneeling like a defeated animal. Alone.

They were gone. 

===========================

**A/N**: Ok. So, sorry for the short prologue-ness. Not much dialogue, I know, but I had to be all descriptive and boring. I was debating between just starting the story with the future or doing the little battle sequence … I thought this fit well. Nice little action to introduce the plot. 

SO, yeah, pretty much it. ^_^ This story isn't going to be TOO long, so I'm looking forward to completing it. Please review and tell me what you think!

**Preview: Chapter 1**

Talim is a bright and somewhat overachieving high school junior taking a special college prep summer program. Adjusting to the school takes some time, and luckily she runs into some nice college students that help her out. Her scary chem teacher, Mrs. Valentine, partners her up with a lazy and egotistical senior who expects her to do everything. What a jerk!

A confrontation with her classmate unexpectedly turns into a supernatural trip through what seem to be old memories by a creepy student who addresses her as "priestess" What is with this guy? Maybe he's just crazy. But then again, the images seem so familiar…

**Review Corner**:

Well, since this is the first chapter, I don't have anything quite yet. But with all my fics, I have this section where I'll comment on your reviews, answer questions, and sometimes challenge you to figure out plot points and foreshadowing. I LOVE when you guys make guesses as to what will happen, as well as suggest some ideas to include. I'm really open about that!

It's a fun thing I do cause I love to stay connected with my readers. I'm sure you guys'll enjoy it, it usually works out pretty well!

Thanks for reading, look out of the next chapter!


	2. First Day, First Encounter

Tale of Eternity: First day and old memories…

The buzzer rang obnoxiously in her ear. Mixed with the shouts of her mother coming from downstairs, it was not a happy wake up call for the young student. After much battling, she forced herself to wake up and stretch the sleep out of her body.

Talim yawned, opening up the blinds of her window, and took a good look outside. It was another gorgeously clear summer morning. Unfortunately, she'd be spending it in school. Instead of going on vacation or hanging out with friends like most teenagers during the summer break, she decided to go into a special college preparation program to add some more flavor to her application. Not that it wasn't freakishly impressive as it was, but… for her, the more the better, right?

Maybe. But hearing the chirping birds and smelling the fresh air made her for the first time regret the decision. Regardless, there was nothing she could do now. It was paid for and she might as well deal with it. Not like she had many friends anyway…

She reached over and grabbed her summer uniform, which consisted of a cool white polo shirt, a pleated skirt with a plaid pattern of light blues and purples, and a baby blue tie. After getting dressed, she put her hair into two loose braids, a few dark strands escaping, and headed downstairs to greet her parents in the kitchen

"Morning, sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready and I packed your lunch for today." 

"Thanks, mom," she said as she made her way to the table where her father sat reading the paper and drinking coffee. But before she could take a seat, her mother was upon her poking and prodding at her clothes.

"Goodness, these skirts are so short. What's wrong with those people? Don't they understand that uniforms are for unity, not a fashion statement?" She started to tug it down.

"Er…mom, they're hardly above my knees.."

"Braids? Really, Talim. You're small enough as it is. That just makes you look even younger."

"It's not really that big a deal…"

"Well, you know, you don't want any of those creeps…"

"MOM!"

"Sweetie, I think you're bothering her," came her father from behind his paper. The middle aged man looked at them both, a strong and disciplined face but kind and proud as well. It always calmed her down to see him. Completely opposite of her frantic mother.

"Yeah, I better get going so I have time to look around and find everything. Ready dad?"

"Of course. I'll get the car started."

She grabbed her lunch and stuffed it into her back. Next, she picked up her toast and, one piece in her mouth, bid farewell to her mother (who managed to adjust her collar before the girl was out the door) and went into the car. 

The ride was enjoyable as she talked with her father, laughing and joking. Once they arrived, he kissed her goodbye and wished her luck. She stepped out and waved, watching him drive away until she could no longer see him. Then she turned to look at the school.

It was a tall building, strong and flashy with it's name written out brightly so the world could see. Around her, Talim saw many students, although they were all obviously of college age. Her nerves shot up as she suddenly felt small and insignificant. The girls were all pretty and tall, with nice figures and confident smiles. She swallowed hard as she stood there, feeling as if they were all staring at her even though she knew nobody had even noticed her presence. She scurried over to a bench, placing her bag down. Standing awkwardly for a moment, she looked around again. Finally, she took out her braids and let her hair fall down to her shoulders. Then she pulled up her skirt a bit before grabbing her back and hurrying into school.

She gingerly pushed open the door and looked around. Some people finally turned to see her and she felt her stomach lurch. She walked in regardless, trying to pretend she knew where she was going. But, being that there was already a three way part in the hallway, it didn't work very well. Soon, a group of boys walked over to her and she felt her face get really hot.

"Hi there, I'm Tai. I'm a freshman. What's your name?" He was tall with long hair tied back into a ponytail and a few stray strands falling over his eyes in the front. He was obviously the leader of the pack, since none of the other three said anything.

"Uh..hi, I'm Talim. I'm a sophomore…"

"Junior?!" They all seemed very shocked by this. _Jeez, I'm short, but I'm not THAT small_, she thought. Then she realized why.

"No, high school junior. I'm here for the summer progr…" She stopped, suddenly realizing the fatal mistake she had made. They all let out a long "ooooh" in unison, a few with devilish smiles spreading on their faces. Her eyes widened and she felt her heart beating faster.

"So, where you headed then? Maybe we could escort you to class?" came the blonde one, who seemed to be moving in a little closer than he should. She started to back away. He closed in and then she felt and hand touching her back. She yelped and got pretty freaked out. 

"No, actually, I was just… coming in. I'm going to the office now…" She hurried off to her left and kept going for a few minutes before stopping. She had no idea where she was and now she was alone in the hallway. Or so she thought until she heard footsteps behind her. Without looking, she began walking again, hoping to find a teacher or classroom or…something. The footsteps began to pick up pace and she picked up her own pace as well. If anything, she was fast, so she knew as long as she could continue outrunning them, she'd be OK. 

Until she ran into a banister. Perfect….

"Hey, are you alright?" he said, grabbing her arm gently. She yelled again before taking her bag and thawping him hard against his head. Everything seemed to freeze, his holding her arm, her bag in is face. She stood there wincing until she finally opened her eyes. 

"Ouch…." he moaned. She realized his voice was much deeper than the boys before. It wasn't one of them..

"Kilik!" came a high pitched female voice. From around the corner came another one of the college kids, dressed in the same uniform. She had short redish-brown hair and was of medium height. She stopped to look at the scene and then smiled widely. "That's what you get for bothering the freshman girls…you should know better," she teased. Kilik picked up his head, his one eye squinting a bit.

"I wasn't bothering her, I wanted to help." He let go of Talim's arm and she slowly lowered them and her bag. The two students looked at her and were taken aback.

"Oh wow, you're not in college at all, are you?" the girl said. Talim just shook her head, unable to talk just yet. "Oh, don't be scared. I'm Xianghua, and this is my boyfriend Kilik." She extended out her hand, and Talim shook it. Kilik just nodded at her.

"Um… I'm Talim." 

"Hey, where's your schedule? You'll be late if you don't get going. The High School classes start in about 10 minutes."

"Oh crap!" Talim shuffled through the pockets in her bag digging for the paper. "I don't believe it!"

"Don't worry about it," Kilik assured her. "We'll get you there." She finally found it and handed it to Xianghua.

"Perfect, it's right down this hall. C'mon!" She grabbed her hand and lead her to the classroom. Kilik just watched them for a moment before going his own way. Once there, Talim noticed he door was closed and she could see all the other high school students standing inside listening to the teacher. Her faced grew red since she knew she would get yelled at, and she hesitated. Xianghua watched her for a moment before opening the door herself.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I caused this girl to be late. Please excuse her."

"Thank you, Ms. Chai. Come on in, then." Xianghua gave Talim a little wink before leaving. Talim stepped in nervously and managed to look over at the crowd. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw a few girls she knew from school standing there smiling at her. 

"Please join the others," the teacher said. Talim walked over to the standing crowd and finally got a good look at the woman. She was tall and shapely, her chest a bit larger than average as well as her bottom. She had short silver hair and deep maroon eyes that seemed to penetrate everything they landed on.. Her lips were full and donned with a bright rouge. Talim swallowed hard and closed in on one of her friends.

"As I was saying, my name is Ms. Valentine. I will be your chemistry teacher for this summer session. As you all know, this is a collage level class. As such, you are all considered advanced placement students. Therefore, despite the difference in ages, I will expect your work to be up to par with the standards and each other, if not better. Each class is an hour long. I will spend half of that hour teaching the material. Twenty minutes will be spent to give you a head start on your homework and the last ten are yours to do as you please so long as you don't get too loud."

A few of the students nodded in approval but no one dared make a sound.

"Now I will assign your seats in alphabetical order. Two to each table. These will be your lab partners for the remainder of the course. Let's begin…"

So, she started down the list of names, one by one, marking off attendance. Some pairs seemed more than pleased with their partners, others were obviously annoyed. 

"Hey Talim…" one of her friend whispered to her. "I wonder if you'll have a loser again like during school?" The girl snickered and Talim gave her a playful smack on the head. She knew she wouldn't have anyone she was familiar with because the girls in her class didn't have last names close to hers. So, she figured she would soon find out.

"Holgado, Talim." She walked over and sat down at her table. Her friends gave her sympathetic smiles and she just shrugged back. At least they would have the last ten minutes to talk. 

"Hong, Yunsung." Talim heard a few soft laughs escape from some of the girls and her eyes widened. He _was_ probably really dorky, she thought. She leaned back and sighed, not exactly thrilled with the aspect of having a dictionary reading pimpled faced geek who came in excited to learn each day as her lab partner yet again. The young man sat next to her, but she didn't turn her head just then. Ms. Valentine continued to go down the list. After a small while, Yunsung leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. She finally got a good look at his face and her jaw dropped. He was the complete opposite of what she thought.

He was handsome with slightly unruly red hair and deep brown eyes. He had the physique of an athlete and looked like he could snap someone in half at any moment. She stared at him for a little bit before he noticed and turned slightly towards her, raising an eyebrow. She quickly looked away trying to act like she wasn't staring, but it was pretty obvious. He just smirked and looked back up at the front. 

The rest of the period went by rather slowly. The books were handed out, the teacher went on about the importance of chemistry and how it affected their lives, etc. They were given a lesson review to do and finally, the last ten minutes of class came.

All of Talim's friends flocked over to her, giggling like maniacs. Once they got there, they all stopped and said nothing. They just looked back and forth between Talim and Yunsung and themselves, letting out their school girlish chuckles. He finally turned to look at them all, obviously annoyed by their tactics. They all stopped and stared back and Talim just sat there feeling quite embarrassed. Finally he raised his hand.

"Ms. Valentine, can I go to the bathroom?" 

"… come get a pass," she said and he got up and went to the front of the room. After he left, all the girls busted out laughing.

"Wowies, he's such a hottie!"

"Looks like you're luck's changed, Talim!" 

"So, what's he like, huh? Spill the beans!" 

"I didn't actually talk to him, guys…what's with all the laughing?" 

"_Look_ at him. I mean…_wow_. I wouldn't mind getting--"

"That's enough, Rika. We don't need to know…"

"Oh, Naomi, you're no fun!" 

They all laughed a bit more, Talim finally smiling a bit herself. They chatted, did some catching up, and exchanged opinions on the teacher. Yunsung returned and sat down, ignoring the girls. Finally the bell rang and everyone went back to get their belongings. 

"Miss Holgado, I'd like to see you a minute before you leave." Talim's face burned again as a few people turned to look at her before losing interest and leaving. She packed up her things and walked up to the front of the room. Ms. Valentine waited until everyone was gone before she spoke.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. You're a nice and quiet girl. Just do me a favor and try to control your friends, alright?" Talim let out a sigh of relief and smiled.   
"Oh, sure, I'll do my best." The teacher gave her a surprisingly warm smile before nodded and dismissing her. Talim nodded back and walked out the door.

"Hey, little one!" she heard from beside her. She jump and dropped her bag. Yunsung was standing there looking amused.

"Don't do that again, you scared me…" 

"Sorry, sorry." He leaned down and picked up her bag for her before handing it back. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Uh..sure."

"Since when did they start letting Junior high kids into these programs?" She face faulted and suddenly her nervousness was turned to annoyance. 

"I'm not a _junior high_ student. I'm going into my _junior_ year of _high_ school."

"Whoa, no way? How OLD are you?"

"15…"

".. and you're gonna be a Junior?"

"Yes…"

"Nice. You must be pretty smart. Good, I won't have to worry about this class, then. Easy A! Well, see ya around." He turned and started walking down the hallway. Talim stood there thinking things over before finally shouting out after him. 

"Hey, WAIT a second…" She walked briskly to catch up.

"Hmm?"

"What makes you think you'll get an A just because I'm your lab partner?"

"Cause I'll be copying your work. Of course."

"What?! What makes you think you can copy my work just like that?"

He gave her a funny look and just watched her for a few moments. She wondered if he was testing her, so she made sure she didn't waver once despite the growing uneasiness she was feeling. Finally, he smiled.

"Hey, look. I'm a busy guy, and I can't be bothered with all this homework…"

"What do you do that takes up so much of your time?"

"I'm in a band…" he said matter-of-factly, as if the answer was obvious. She got infuriated.

"Maybe you ought to pay attention to your schoolwork instead of some stupid little hobby…" 

"Why should I when I've got you?"

"Ha! Like Hell I'm going to be pulling your lazy ass through class…"

At this, he slammed his hand against the locker. She jumped and let out a small gasp. 

"Ooh, so you're one of those, huh?" he said. She was frozen and didn't know what to say. He was really close to her and it was making her nervous. She knew she was blushing but that was the least of her worries. How was she going to survive the summer with such a short tempered jerk-off as her partner?

"Well, isn't this precious? You managed to find each other even after you were sent here…" came a cold voice from behind them. They both turned to see a tall boy with jet black hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. He was wearing the uniform in the most proper way he could, the white shirt buttoned to the neck and tucked into the navy blue slacks. Unlike Yunsung who had his unbuttoned completely revealing a white tank top underneath. It hung out causally and he wore a series of necklaces and wrist bands, all of which were frowned upon, but not banned, by administration.

The boy started to walk towards them. 

"It's been a long time, priestess," he addressed to Talim. She just gazed at him in a sort of trance.

Yunsung instinctively put himself between them before the boy got any closer.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Still protecting her, are you? Not surprised. But I _am_ surprised that you don't remember me at all. That damn sword did quite a number on your memories. But no worries. Here, let me give you a little reminder…"

With that, he shoved Yunsung backwards into Talim. But instead of hitting the lockers like they both expected, they fell into a gaping hole that appeared out of nowhere. Sucked into darkness, they were both presented with what appeared to be a fast forward view of the scenes from a movie. An epic battle, warriors with mystical weapons, lots of chaos and bloodshed. And the most intriguing part of it all was seeing themselves, clothed in ancient attire, armed with their own weapons, and being a part of that war.

It was something that struck her closer to home than she liked. They were all familiar, the images, like a dream she had remembered but later forgotten. Or maybe more like a distant memory… 

===========Ending Credits================

**A/N**: Yayness. First actual chapter done. That's fun. I hope it's not too wordy and long. I tried to fit in two important plot pushers: meeting some of the characters for one and introducing the whole "past" aspect of it all. Weird ending. Hmm. 

So, Kilik and Xianghua will definitely be in it more, I just wanted to throw them in there along with Ivy. I was torn between making her extremely evil, but I like her character a lot and think she may have a sort of soft side despite her madness. That, and she doesn't quite "remember" being a vengeful maniac. None of the characters do, actually, which is why they may be SLIGHTY out of character at the moment. Tried my best to fit their personalities into a modern setting.

Ah, Yunsung. Made him somewhat of an ass hole, but I've got plans for him, so. You'll see how that turns out. Tee hee. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Ch 2 coming soon. 

**Preview: Chapter 2**

Talim is clearly shaken up by this encounter but she's not quite sure who to talk to about it. Yunsung is very weirded out as well and seems to be avoiding her.

She runs into Xianghua again and the two become good friends. She opens up about the encounter and the dreams that've been occurring since then and it strikes a cord with Xiangua. 

The small group gets attack by an unknown gang of teenagers who unleash some surprising attacks that almost seem like magic. More shocking is the unexpected attack Xiangua shoots back. Now they know something's up… 

More characters, some interesting plot input and lots of action coming up! 

**Review Corner**:

Mature: I definitely plan on bringing in all of the characters. The main issue is the extreme age difference between anything. It was originally going to be a high school deal until I realized only Talim and Yunsung were of high school age, and most of the other characters would be out of college or going to graduate school :/ So, I have to mess around with all that and do some tweeking to make it work, but so far, it's going alright. I'm glad you're liking it so far, I hope not to disappoint!

Sea-wolf: I know what ya mean! I thought you might like this for obvious reasons. X3 Hehe, please continue to read and enjoy!

Jinx-chan: I'm glad that you guys feel this is a unique story line. I kind of thought it might be a turn off for some people, but I guess it's doing alright. ^^ I'm hoping it'll gain a little more ground in the coming chapters, so. XD Anyway. You're very right, the battle scene in the prologue could have been much better. I think after a few chapters, I might go back and update it a bit! I think this chapter here is perhaps a better indication of my writing style, so there you have it. I'll keep working hard for ya! Thanks again. 

So, not much as far as challenging you guys just yet. Need to expand on the plot some more. I guess my request is any spelling or grammatical errors you find, please feel free to report them to me. I go over the story a few times before uploading, but you always tend to miss things in your own work, so it's greatly appreciated! You can e-mail me at chaoticbluez@yahoo.com, or just comment in your review. Thanks a bunch, and thanks for reading!

-Isami


	3. Something wicked

The sun was setting on the horizon, glowing proud and true in its orange brilliance. He almost blended into the background of the sky at dusk with is red hair and tanned skin. A clear atmosphere and gentle breeze promised a warm night. Yet, for Yunsung, there was no comfort in this. Not after what happened that day…

He sat alone in the park, looking like every other brooding teenager. But while they dwelled on girlfriends and school work and parties, he was stuck with a nightmare. 

Nightmare….

Was it coincidence? The dreams he had been having? Meeting that girl…she looked so familiar. And that kid… pushing him backwards…. Did all that really happen? It had to have… Talim was there. And they were found… so far away from the scene where it happened… 

What _did_ happen? 

~*Earlier that Day*~

"Yunsung? Yun_sung_?" There was a pounding in his head that came along with the shouts in his name, almost as if a drum was in his ear. Not very pleasant at all. Still stuck in a state between sleep and being awake, he forced his being to snap out of it and return to reality. After some struggling, he managed to open his eyes. There was another student there shaking him awake. Not the creepy kid from before, but someone else. He was much older with brown hair that came down a little past his chin. 

Upon his return to conscienceless, Kilik helped the younger boy to sit up. 

"You alright?"

"My head is killing me, but other than that, yeah…" The red-head placed a hand to his forehead, showing discomfort. "How did you know my name?"

"Student ID…" 

"Oh…" He looked around and realized that he was in the cafeteria. Not only was that a strange and sudden place to be, but out the window he saw the sun was low in the sky. It was late… "How the hell did I get here? And what _time_ is it?" Instead of giving him an answer, Kilik just turned around to look at Xianghua who had her hands full with a still comatose Talim. 

"Any luck?" The girl shook her head.

"Nothing. She's out cold…" Kilik turned back to him..

"Do you remember anything?" Yunsung let out a sigh before racking his brain for information. He found it difficult to remember . But he kept seeing other things in his "memory"… things that weren't there before anything. The images he saw…when that kid… were those events replacing his memory? What?!

"Some…guy was talking to us. He said something odd to Talim…and pushed us… but we fell into a hole. And I saw these fights…wars…" He stopped suddenly when he realized how strange all that must've sounded. His head dropped slightly.

"You don't do drugs of any sort, right?"

"What the hell kind of question is that? You're not funny…"

"I'm being serious. You're memories are messed up. And you two blacked out for a good while, being that the only class either of you went to was Chem which ended at eleven. We just found you. It's almost five…"

"FIVE?" Yunsung couldn't believe what he was hearing. But his thoughts were interrupted anyway by a soft groan from beside him. Talim was stirring and started mumbling something in another language.

"Talim?" Xianghua patted the girl's head gently until she came to completely.

"What? Where am I?" She blinked a few times, obviously bewildered.

"What do you last remember," Kilik asked. She paused a few moments before speaking.

"This boy… he pushed us and… he seemed to know us. But I've never seen him before. Or I thought I hadn't… he seemed familiar some how. Then I saw things… like, fighting. And… everyone was there…"

"Everyone?" Kilik listened intently while Xianghua seemed to be turning things over in her mind. Yunsung just sat amazed that they had both experienced the same thing. He though it was some kind of delusion but… if she saw them too…

"Yeah. You were there. And Xianghua and Yunsung… and Ms. Valentine. Everyone…" Her eyes squinted a bit as if she were about to cry. It was so much. Too much. 

"Alright, let's get you home. You're parents must be worried about you. Can you stand?" 

"Um… yeah, I think." She held on to the older girl's arm and stood up. Her legs were shaky, but she managed. Xianghua walked her out of the cafeteria leaving the two guys there, still on the floor.

"Is that really what you remember?" Kilik questioned.

"Of course it is…what do _you_ think happened?" Yunsung knew very well what they probably thought, but he still wanted to challenge it. 

"I think it's obvious what crossed our minds when we first found you two lying there… but…"

"But?"

"The fact that you two both had the same story… I honestly don't feel she'd go along with something like that to cover things up."

"Oh, but _I_ would?" Yunsung snorted. The nerve… 

"That and… as crazy as all that sounded, I don't find it strange. That's what bothers me most. Normally, I'd think there was something seriously wrong with you two, that maybe you both were making it up. But it feels so feasible to me. I don't understand…" Kilik seemed to drift off into thought. Yunsung shrugged and stoop up himself. There was no point in staying there anyway. He started walking out of the school and Kilik followed suit.

"I'm Kilik, by the way. That girl was Xianghua. We're working for our masters' here…"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you," Yunsung replied halfheartedly. 

"How are you getting home?"

"I'll walk."

"Aren't your parents going to pick you up or something? Or look for you at least?" Yunsung said nothing. He just kept walking into the park. Kilik noticed that he struck a cord. "Alright, then. I'll be going. Hey, if you ever need to talk or help or something, don't hesitate to ask." With that, he simply left, disappearing back into the school. 

And that was three hours ago. 

It was just about nine as the sun reached its final decent in the sky. The fiery orb itself was gone but its light was fighting the slowly pushing darkness of night. One of his favorite aspects of summer was the fact that the day ended so late. He was a child of fire, happiest and strongest when the sun shown brightly and proudly in the sky. It was in his name and in his soul. It was almost a feeling of betrayal when night came.

But it felt like that all day today. There was no comfort in the fire…

"Yunsung?" He turned to see a familiar face, a bright, teasing smile he had learned to both love and hate.

"Mina, what are you doing here?"

"What a question to ask! You never came home, so I came looking for you."

"It's not like I've never run off before… what makes today special?"

"Hmm. I dunno, a hunch?" The young woman leaned against the wall next to him, watching as the stars began to poke through the blanket of deep blues and indigo. 

He lived in a foster home since he was eight. Ten years… Mina was the blood daughter of the man and woman who had taken him in, but for some reason she never treated him as less of a person. She treated him like an actual brother, which could be annoying when she teased and they fought. But there was something in that he had never felt in the countless homes he was shuffled through beforehand. They were always kind, gentle, giving, but there was something missing in all of that. He had found it there, in the Seung family. An actual family that didn't try to treat him special or like an outsider. He was treated like one of them, a member. He's glad… that they let him stay. Even though he did pick up a few habits from Mina, like being a bit crazy and running off a few times. But for the most part, he did what he could to be a good son. He worked hard to be the best, and he was very bright and athletic. It got to his head sometimes, but all in all, he was alright. Probably thanks to her…

"It's getting late. Aren't you hungry? Let's hit a pizzeria or something. Like the one on the next lock…" She asked. Her long hair was tied back in a tight ponytail and she wore a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She didn't look ready to go out for dinner at all. 

"Looking like that? You're such a bum. Besides, isn't _Hwang_ working there tonight?"

"Look at you? Can't even wear a uniform right." His faced burned a bit, but he got over it, especially since she choice to ignore his comment as opposed to smacking him. 

"Yeah, I guess…" 

"Alright, let's go!" Before he could protest, she grabbed his arm and yanked him off down the street big smile across her face. 

Talim checked her watch about every five minutes out of nervousness. She really wished she didn't live so far away from the school, but… there was nothing she could do about it. 

Turning her head to the driver's seat, she saw Xianghua looking cheerful and thoughtful at the same time. She was blasting music with the windows rolled down and everything. Exactly something Talim would expect from a 21-year-old. Except the fact that she wasn't singing. That was the only part missing. 

"Um… I want to thank you. For everything. You've helped me out so much today."

"No sweat, don't worry about it. I haven't had this much fun in a while, anyway. " 

"Ah…" Talim just nodded and looked out the window, leaning her arms on the edge and resting her chin on her arms. She supposed they had different ideas of fun… 

The breeze blew gently through her hair and she closed her eyes taking a deep breath. So serene… she wasn't too sure what it was about a warm breeze that made her so calm, but she felt so at peace when it was there. 

"Hey, is everything all right?" Xianghua asked suddenly. She blinked and turned to look at her. 

"Yeah…"

"Oh. Ok, just making sure. I guess today was an odd day." Talim tilted her head. She was right about that….

"How did you guys find us?"

"Your mom called asking why you never came out to get picked up. I told her you were doing an extra study group thing and that I'd drive you home."

"Oh? But you didn't know where I was, did you?"

"No…but something told me I'd find you. You bet I was surprised when that turned out to be true. At first I was afraid he had done something to you, but it was pretty apparent he didn't." Talim's cheeks grew red at the comment, but on the same token, she could understand where that idea would come from. 

"What I said… it must've sounded crazy."

"No, not really… but we'll talk about it some other time. Here's your house…" 

"Oh, wow. We're here already? Time flies…" 

"Sure does. I'll see you tomorrow, k?" 

"Yup. Thank you again, Xianghua!"

"No problemo, Talim." The younger girl stepped out of the car and waved goodbye before her friend drove off down the road. She took a moment to gaze over at the sun. It was almost time for it to set. She had better get inside…

The next day, Talim went to her chemistry class again like she had the day before. Things went just as she had expected except that Yunsung was clearly avoiding her. He hardly said anything to her, he even did his own homework and class work, avoiding any possible contact. As soon as the period was over, he ran out of the class without even a goodbye. 

Her next class was a bit harder to get through. Mr. Sorel, the English teacher, was clearly angered at her absence the day before and gave her a hard time. He was a bitter man and didn't stand for any sort of nonsense. His eyes were cold and narrow, and his lips were always in a tight frown. He was tall, slender, and refined, and he had a light complexion with blonde hair. He would almost be handsome if his foul attitude didn't get in the way. He questioned Talim relentlessly about why she was in one class and not his, assuming she cut. She made up some excuse about not feeling well and having to go home early. He just snuffed his nose and got on with it. She really didn't like him very well.

Lunch time came finally. She was starving, remembering she hadn't had lunch the day before. The fun part about lunch was you could go wherever you wanted so long as you got back in time for class. So she walked out to the courtyard and looked around. Most kids went out to get pizza or some other fast food, so there were only a few people scattered here and there on the benches. One of them, she noticed, was Yunsung. He was sitting by himself. She contemplated going over and confronting him, but it made her feel odd and she decided against it. Then someone jumped from behind her and covered her eyes.

"NA NO DA!!!" 

"Iyaaa!" Talim shrieked before dropping her bag. She turned around to see Xianghua looking at her amused and Kilik behind her with a disapproving look on his face.

"One of these days, you're going to give that girl a heart attack." 

"Oh, no sense of humor, that one… How you doing, kid?"

"I…hi…guys… I'm good. Heh…" _What a weird way to greet friends_, she thought. 

"Oh, you have lunch, too, eh? Let's go sit with Yunsung and eat." She smiled brightly and grabbed Talim's hand to take her along. Kilik shrugged and followed."

"Um.. Xianghua? I don't think… he's in a good mood today."

"Oh? Is that so…" She paused for a moment… and then continued towards him anyway. "He'll live. HEY! Fireboy, what's up?" He lifted his head and scowled. 

"Not me. So leave me alone."

"Oh, don't be such a potty head." Xianghua sat Talim down next to him, then sat next to her and motioned for Kilik to sit next to her. Yunsung scooted over a few inches and Talim felt extremely uneasy. _Why… is Xianghua forcing this…_

"How are classes going, everyone?" Kilik said to strike up conversation. Everybody was getting out their lunches. Or, in Yunsung's case, moping. 

"Mr. Sorel is SO MEAN. I'm not sure what flew up his--"

"You know, he is a very cranky guy, not that you mention it…" Xianghua put in before Talim could finish. 

"I agree. He used to tell people I was going to blow up the school for being so quiet…" Kilik added. 

"Maybe he's just a nutcase…"

"Talim, that's not very nice." Xianghua scolded. The younger girl simply smiled. Then Kilik interjected. 

"Apparently he's obsessed with swords." 

"Really?" Talim's eyes widened.

"Yeah, I heard he keeps them in his classroom."

"REALLY!?!?"

"Kilik… stop making trouble…"

"Speaking of trouble…. I think we've got some." Yunsung spoke suddenly. Every one lifted their heads and looked in the direction of his glare, which was right at a group of rather nasty looking group of teens. They were staring back. Talim panicked and looked around finding that everyone else was gone. They were alone. With all those people. Scary people. Angry people.

"Run… run… let's run…" She was shaking rather much. 

"No. The only way in is that door over there which is where they are."

"What… are we gonna do? They're going to kill us….!"

"Talim, calm down. Nobody's killing anyone. Let's just get up and pretend we don't see them…"

"Right, Yunsung. Like they didn't notice us staring at them?" Xianghua rolled her eyes. 

"Ah..ah…they're coming closer..."

"Talim, calm down…" 

But she couldn't. They kept coming closer until about four of them were standing in front of the students. There was no way of hiding the tension or trying to make casual conversation. That was evident. But how to break the ice…

"Can we help you?" Kilik finally spoke. But none of them said a word. They just watched them. It was the weirdest thing in the world. Talim just wanted to fly away or something. Things were extremely on edge. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she felt lightheaded. Maybe she'd pass out and not remember what happened? That sounds good… "Alright. We'll be on our way then." He stood up and Xianghua followed suit. Yunsung did next and had to pick Talim up by her arm. She was completely spacing out. 

"Actually, you can help us out." One of them finally spoke. Yunsung noticed they all looked the same… like some giant family of brothers and sisters. All with pale skin, dark hair, and… bright blue eyes? Like… that kid? What?

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. We've got orders to kill all of you. So, you can help us out by making it easy and not fighting back." 

Those words cut like a newly sanded down sword. Everyone was frozen in shock. Who would want to kill them? Why? Better yet, how are they going to defend themselves? There had to be at least twelve of them. Twelve on four…. There was no way. No way….

"RUN!" 

Nobody was quite sure who gave the command. The four of them just instinctively jet in different directions trying to get away. Talim didn't have too much of a hard time, since she was small and fast. She dodged her way between them, heading towards the door. She had to get inside, maybe get some help. But she was distracted when she heard a yelp from behind. She turned around and it was Xianghua. One of them had drawn out a kendo stick and hit her in the leg causing her to fall.

"Ah, Xianghua, get up!" she yelled.

"NO! Talim, look out!"

"What?!" There wasn't much warning after that. The next thing she knew, a sharp pain hit her stomach and she toppled over onto the grass. A hand reached down and grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to kneel up. Whoever it was also grabbed her hands and bound them behind her back. 

"Look at you now, Priestess. So helpless and without a clue. Let me show you something…" One of the boys stepped in front of her and knelt down to her level, leaning forward so that she got a good view of his face. Half of it was covered by his hair, which he lifted up revealing a hideous scar going over his eye which was healed shut. She winced. "This, this was YOUR doing, you know. I lost my left eye because of you and your god damned Soul Calibur. You didn't think twice about that then… how it would affect me, now did you?"

"What… what are you talking about? I've never seen you before …argh!" The person who was holding her down and kneed her in the lower back. She started coughing and felt tears starting to rush to her eyes. 

_Why me? What's going on? Is this … a dream? A nightmare…_

"Hmm. Well, I'm supposed to kill you but… that's a waste of such a cute girl. I might have fun with you and then kill you later. Whaddya say?" He didn't let her answer. Instead he grabbed her and forcefully kissed her hard on the lips. Her eyes shot open and instinctively she tried to kick him away, but to no avail. 

Oh god, oh god…somebody, anybody….

And suddenly a shock shot through her whole body. Her fists clenched tightly as if holding on to something. She bit hard down on the boy's lip and he backed away, bleeding. She somehow managed to flip her captor over her head and into the freak in front and then stood up. He stood as well and glared angrily at her.

"You little bitch! I'll kill you for that…"

"Try me," she said. Her eyes were glazed over but had a dangerous edge to them suddenly, as if she were possessed by a ghost. He was only momentarily startled, however, before charging at her ready to lay down a heavy beating. She dodged him easily, and he continually missed landing a hit over and over again. Her evasiveness was fluid and graceful, unlike the awkward ducking she displayed before. Finally she tried her own hand at offense and kneed him harshly in the gut causing him to keel over. Without pause, she then brought her elbow down quickly onto his back and floored him for good. Not a word escaped her lips, no shout of victory or degrading comments. Just a straight face, perhaps a bit remorseful, but nothing more. 

But as quickly as the phase had come, it left and the expression faded to confusion. There wasn't much time to think before a hard sharp pain shot through her back and everything faded to black. 

Xianghua had enough of watching the girl get picked on. She jump in and quickly landed a kick on the jerk who had knocked Talim out. She kneeled down to the girl and tried to shake her awake, but she was out cold. Xianghua lifted her head to look around. Kilik had found a random tree branch and was rather skillfully taking care of himself while Yunsung was managing well with his martial arts training. She returned her attention to the younger girl quickly.

"Talim… Talim, get up. Wake _up_…" It wasn't working. "Dammit…"

"ARGH!" Her head shot up and she saw that Kilik no longer had the upper hand in his fight. He was leaning against a tree clutching his side. Behind him, one of the attackers held a dagger up high above his head. She panicked, everything getting blurry and slow, unable to focus. Next she screamed, reaching out as if she could try and do something from where she was, but he was far away. The thought of him dying played in her mind and she found herself wondering what to do, if there was anything she could do. She received no answer in words, only a bright flash and a draining feeling as if all the energy was sucked out of her body. After blinking a few times, the akward silence befell the area and she knew she would slip soon. There was no one around. They had all gone… She looked up to where Kilik was before, and he still was there, though showing no sign of life. Yunsung was nowhere, Talim still out cold in her arms, and one other figure stood in the doorway to the school. It was Mr. Sorel staring coldly at her. 

And that was the last thing she saw before darkness took her. 

===========Ending Credits==============

**A/N**: K, Chapter 2 out. It's a tad bit different from what I said in the preview, but nothing major. That's something that'll happen a bit often since when you write, sometimes you're ideas change or things don't work out quite as you planned. Of course you know, you're all authors too. XD

So, got some action in there, a bit more plot development, some relationship development, and two more characters introduced. Well, Raphael sorta. He'll play a more important part in chapter four. 

I added the scene with Yunsung and Mina to sort of get more insight to his life and personality since I tend to lean towards Talim as a center focus. That'll change soon because she's not the MAIN character, she's part of the main group. And Mina is awesome. An original fav from SC on DC. XD Yeah, babble babble.

I have the general ideas for up to chapter 6 I'd say, but there's a lot of tweaking, adding, and deleting I wanna get done. But I'm quite excited for this story! I can't wait to write more. XD 

**Preview: Chapter3**

Chapter 3 tones it down a bit to do some reflection from Xianghua's and Kilik's points of view. Gotta stray away from the hormonally imbalanced teens, eh? Xianghua is very frightened about the "flash of light" which apparently came from her and wonders why everything is happening. Kilik turns over the events in his head and recalls an event that happened in the beginning of the summer that may be connected. 

Other stuff that I'm not sure of yet to add more substance to the story. Heh... ^^ Shouldn't be more than a few days to come out with this, though a bit longer cause I'm not sure what else to add. 

**Review Corner**: 

Woo, I got lots of reviews for last chapter. XD Right now, getting to this part of the credits isn't posing any sort of problem. But if I get a lot more, I'm probably going to end up only commenting on lengthy reviews full of questions and commentary that can be commented on. Like "Good job, keep it up!" is certainly encouraging and perfectly fine IMO, but it's hard for me to say something on that, ya know? But yeah, that's not for a long time. Who knows, I probably won't get that many reviews anyway. Hehe. Yeah, on with it. 

Modesty1: Heh, this is one of those review's I'm talking about. XD I'm truly hoping I can develope a good and interesting story. I think it sucks when something starts out really well and then starts to drag on... and you just keep reading cause you started and bla bla. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be boring, though. I'll try my best!

Hero_Genkaku : Very true, this is not the easiest of story lines to tackle. But I've already got up to chapter 3 which is a first for me, so it's coming along. It's a nice sort of challenge, ya know? It's been pretty unanimous that the unique story line is what catches people's eye most thus far. I'm kind of surprised, I though it was a bit risky to post something like this. But so far, so good! As far as Nightmare goes, fear not. I've got plans for him, but I'm not giving anything away, so you'll have to wait! ~.^ I tried to be more detailed. That part's still developing, but I think it's getting better. Thank ya!

Jinx-chan : AH! How could I spell her name wrong so many times! X.x Oh jebus. Thanks for pointing that out, it's on my list of edit fixer upers. I think you're review got cut off? But yeah, Yunsung. He's a favorite of mine as well. XD Lots of him in his chap for ya. Heh! 

Sea Wolf: Thank you muchly, you know I 3 ya! 

xXx : About character names: I really toyed with the idea of changing their names, ironically enough. I wasn't sure what would be better. I finally decided to keep their names. I mean, while this is sort of "modern times", it might not exactly be what our "modern times" are, y'know? Besides, it posed too much of a nuisance to come up with a bunch of names, and nobody would know who I was talking about unless I said out straight that "Kelly is Talim" or something. I did have to make up some last names, like Talim (who I'm pretty sure is Filipino, so I gave her a Filipino surname, though I can be wrong on that.). Anyway, thanks for the review!

Evil-Godess: I adore T/Y pairings, so if I decide to do any sort of romance (even if just a little lighthearted stuff), you can expect to see that. XD Thanks for adding me!

Hwoarangsguardie: Sure will keep writing!

  
Thank you ALL for the reviews!

**To The Readers**: 

As always, spelling and grammar, just tell me and I'll fix it ASAP. I didn't get to go over this one as much as I had CH2, so they're probably more abundant. Hopefully they don't take away tOO much. 

Hmm. I guess today's question is what I should do with romance. I've never really tried any hardcore romantic stuff before, and I think it would be an interesting to give it a shot. I've got an idea of who I'd like to pair up and who I wouldn't (It might be pretty obvious actually). Kilik and Xianghua are together, but so far, they don't really act much like they're dating, do they... in fact, I'm not sure they've had much interaction. Meh...

Anyway, so what do you guys think? Should I try to develop the relationships or is that too much of a turn off to people who believe in specific pairs.... or should I care about that last one because I think it's kind of childish to dislike a whole story cause your favorite couple isn't in it. . Heh, get back to me, guys.


	4. Tiger's Eye

Everybody has their own way of relaxing when things get stressful. For some, they find peace in music. Some in nature, some in meditation. For Xianghua, her relief was a long, hot bath. So, that's where she found herself that night, almost six days after the attack that left her heart with a sudden gaping hole.

She made a surprise visit to the main house of her family for the weekend, being that she had no parents to return to. Her grandmother was delighted to have her stay, though worried by her appearance. She made up an excuse for the scars and bruises. Something about a camping trip. The old woman allowed her to use the main bathroom which was just as luxurious as the rest of the pricey home. It was pretty big, with a shower and a Jacuzzi along with all the other bathroom commodities. She was in the Jacuzzi, of course. Might as well make the best of it…

She let out a long sigh and leaned back as the water was pumped against her shoulders and feet, and bubbles created a sort of dreamy blanket on the surface. It really felt good to get away from the stinky dorm room showers. But there was no escaping from it, as hard as she tried to pretend it never happened. It had… there had to be a reason, she knew that.

She took out a long scrubber and sat upright, reaching to wash her back. A gang, maybe? That seemed like the most likely explanation… There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, darling. There's a phone call for you. It's Kilik. Do you want to take it or should I tell him to call back?"

"Oh, no, I've got to talk to him." The woman came in and handed Xianghua the phone before leaving. "Heya! Everything alright?" 

"Yeah. You better?" She leaned back again, finally cracking a smile after what seemed like ages. Sometimes hearing his voice was enough to make everything better. 

"Yeah, sort of. Just taking a bath."

"Oh…" He paused for a few moments, not saying anything. 

"What, you imagining me naked?" 

"Shut up," he said, obviously annoyed. She giggled at the thought of his face that moment.

"You know I'm only teasing."

"Yeah…" He paused again. It was starting to get awkward.

"Um… heard anything from the raging teenagers?"

"Yeah, some good and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"

"Hmm. Good news."

"They're not fighting this week." She laughed softly. 

"That certainly is good news. Now for the bad?"

"Talim's parents took her out of the program. So, she won't be coming back. Not surprising. It's been one thing after another, they're probably thinking it was a mistake sending her here." They both stood silent for a moment. That was bad news, Xianghua thought. She had become pretty close to the girl, despite the age difference. She wasn't sure why, she usually couldn't stand people younger than her. Heck, Yunsung got on her nerves, and he was 18. But something about Talim, even in her naivety, caused her to look after the girl, like try to protect her. It was almost instinct. 

"That's really sad," she finally said. "I'm gonna miss her."

"Yeah, me too. So is the rebel, he's been pretty pissy since she told us."

"Figures." She smirked. "So..."

"So…" his voice trailed off slightly. She decided then that she really missed him even after only being gone for two days. "Hey, you coming back Monday, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course!"

"Ok, good. We should go out to eat or something. We've both been really stressed, I think we need it." 

"Oooh, yeah! We haven't been on a date in a looong time." 

"School's too much. And all this… oh, by the way. I got a letter from Mr. Sorel. He wants us to meet him at his house after school Monday."

"Us… as in?"

"You, me, Talim, and Yunsung."

"Oh god, do you think it has something to do with… with the fight?"

"Probably. He was the only one who saw…"

"I wonder how long that jerkoff was there," she boomed, her voice rising. "It seemed like he had seen a lot. And he didn't even bother helping! Like it was our fault or something."

"Don't be too quick to assume, Xianghua."

"But you didn't see the look he gave me before I passed out."

"It could have been the light…" The mention of that made her blood freeze. Of everything that happened, the fight, the dreams, Talim and Yunsung's disappearance, that was the one thing that scared her the most. Because, from what she had heard, it came from her and caused all the gang members to vanish. She didn't know how… or why. She had hoped it was a hallucination, but not if the two boys and Mr. Sorel all saw. He probably thought she was some sort of freak. Or maybe a witch… or maybe…

"Xianghua?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was… thinking."

"You're frightened of it, aren't you…"

"Wouldn't you be?" He noticed a bit of shakiness in her voice. Was she…crying? 

"Xianghua…" She said nothing for a minute or so. He could hear her sniffling. He knew she was now… and it bothered him. She rarely cried, even in the most difficult of situations. She was so strong, always rising above challenge and taking it head on. Once things were done, they were done, and she moved on proud and stronger than before. It was one of the things he admired most about her, because it's something he lacked in himself. He wasn't the type to take things lightly, he couldn't get over things, and often found himself being haunted by regret. Perhaps that's why he felt he needed her around so much… and why he felt so helpless when she was weaker. 

"Hey, look. It's alright. I'm just… it's so much, I'm not sure how to deal."

"I know… it's hard. But we're in this together…"

"Heh. Yeah, you're right. Hey, I'm gonna go. I need some rest. And so do you."

"You're right. I'll see you then…"

"Yeah. See you."

"Hey, Xianghua…" 

"Hmm?"

"Uh… I…" he hesitated, listening to her breath on the other end of the line. His throat suddenly felt dry.

"You there?" 

"Yeah. I'll call tomorrow, k?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll be here."

"Alright, bye."

"See ya." She hung up. He lingered for a moment before putting the receiver down. Figures he wouldn't' be able to say it… 

He walked over to the window and climbed out onto the balcony. He lived alone in a small apartment a few blocks away from the school. It wasn't much, but it was something. The afternoon sun beat overhead and warmed his whole body. He leaned back against the window-door and closed his eyes. A short siesta sounded nice. There was nothing to do that Saturday anyway. Closing his eyes, he let the spawn of thought seep into his mind. He knew what would go through his head. The events of the past few weeks had been the center of everything for the small group lately. But he wanted more than just to reply the events in his mind. He wanted a clue. Some sort of hint or… lead… anything that could help in figuring out what was wrong. 

As he slowly drifted into a warm sleep, he turned the questions around in his head.

Why is this happening? Why us? What's going on? Why… why does it seem so normal? Why aren't we more afraid of these things? Are we all going crazy? Is this a dream? A dream… but the answer _wasn't_ in dreams. It was a memory….

It was a boardwalk festival about a week after summer break came. The last time he went on a date with her. 

She stood there marveling at the Chinese acrobats. They were so amazingly perfect in their movements. A childish smile was plastered on her face as she cheered the young performers on. 

And he stood there marveling at her. Her chestnut hair and the well it fell gently down to her chin. The light blue sundress she wore with floral patterns around the hem, and her matching sandals. She was a treasure and he wasn't so sure how he came to find that treasure. Just that he was really lucky to have done so. He walked over to her and looked around.

"We've gotta be heading home. The dock's close, soon."

"Oh, right. But I wanted to have my fortune read!" she squealed excitedly. He rolled his eyes. 

"Please. It's all a sham."

"Yeah, but still. It's fun!"

"You know what they're gonna tell you, right? You'll be married to handsome young man and have three healthy and handsome children and live in a handsome house with a handsome dog and a handsome car and a handsome income and…"

"BLEH!" She grabbed his hand and lead him a few feet away from the acrobats to a small area with a long thin building that had housed various stands. Some food, some games. And the so called "psychic". Upon reaching their particular spot and walking in through a beaded doorway, Kilik got an almost instant headache from the strong perfumes and incense that was robbing the air of its cleanliness. There were two women, one old and small, the young one tall, lean, and bug eyed. The old one spoke first.

"Welcome to our humble resting place. What would you like to know?" She had a heavy accent, but he couldn't put his finger on it. 

"Hmm.," Xianghua debated on which reading to get. Kilik hoped a short palm reading would suffice. But.."Ooh, the 10 dollar special! Palm reading, tarot cards, and crystal ball." She beamed brightly at him as he took out his wallet.

"And you, young man?" the old woman asked.

"Not interested, thanks." 

"Very well," the younger one nodded as she took Xianghua into a hidden room covered by drapery and beads. Kilik sat down on a bean bag that he saw in the "waiting room". He sat there bored out of his mine for a few minutes, not hearing much from the other room than a few girlish giggles. Then he noticed the old woman staring at him. He gave her a look but her gaze didn't falter and he turned away awkwardly. Another few minutes went by before he saw that she was walking towards him, very slowly. Almost gliding. He got a little creeped out.

"Um…yes?"

"How about I give you a palm reading?" she asked.

"No thanks," he replied.

"_Free_ reading. But you ask the questions."

"Why? I don't believe in this stuff."

"Something told me of you this morn when I awoke. I must know more about you. So…" She took his hand and began to trace the lines on his palm with her finger. He felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "Ask, ask…"

"Er… how much money will I make?"

"You are endowed with a wealth beyond all tangible things…"

"What?"

"Ask, ask…"

"… how many children will I have?"

"Your blood is the purest of nobility. Your children will be blessed hereafter." Kilik paused. She wasn't answering his questions. Rather she was telling him more than he could ask for. Something made sense about what she said. It was significant to him in ways he didn't quite understand. Scared, maybe, but there was something hypnotizing about her voice that prevented him from pulling away. Something popped up in his head. A question. The last thing he would ever think of asking.

"What about my past lives?"

It took longer for her to reply to this one. She stared deeply into his hand, her eyes picking out the information line by line. They opened wide as she said "that can't be right.." and then checked again. Finally, she looked up, a dumfounded expression on her face.

"Your soul is several hundred years old. But … you have never died." Her grip on his wrist tightened and she reached into her pocket with her free hand to remove a small pouched. She turned it over spilling the contents on the floor. Small bones, beads, stones, and other things landed with small taps and bounces on the ground. She mumbled things in another language, sounding almost like a chant, and she looked at the objects carefully, never once letting him go.

"Stoic warrior, you the wolf; be warned. Beware the Nightmare from your past. It comes to you soon. You will be guided by your companions. The true tigress, skillful and full of grace. The legendary phoenix, fiery and proud. The adolescent eagle, small but strong. The dragon, loyal yet vengeful and violent. Find them and fight. Fight and win…"

"Mom, what are you DOING!?" The young woman stood in the doorway with a disapproving look. Xianghua was beside her, focusing only on the scribbles on a sheet of paper she held. Kilik stood up quickly, shaking the old woman's hand off of his own. 

"Xianghua, let's go." He took her arm and led her out of the hut, her eyes still glued to the paper. The woman was babbling in her language again, while her daughter yelled at her and started picking up the strange contents of the pouch. She stared after him, her arm outstretched as if trying to grab him from afar. He shuddered and walked away briskly for a while before Xianghua finally snapped back to reality.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lied dryly. 

"Are you that mad that I got the fortune done?"

"No, no. It's no big deal. Let's just go home…"

"Hmm. Ok! Hey, guess when we're getting married," she blurted happily and started reading information off the sheet. He tried to listen, but he couldn't. Not after what that crazy woman said to him. What did she mean…. Who did she mean… who… is it them?

The memory faded and the dream now began. Time to put the pieces together. 

He stood there, in a circle of light. He was surrounded by people. Some he knew, some he didn't know. They were rotating around him staring at the ground. A small orb appeared above him. Instinctively, he took the orb and placed it over the head of Xianghua who then lifted her own and smiled before grabbing his hand.

Next he was sitting in a tree, looking down. She was there, in old looking Chinese clothes. All around her were scrubby looking men, laughing and taunted. She stood ready, in stance, wielding a sword in her hand. All in one motion, she started to fight them, swinging the blade around like it was a part of her, never missing a move, never missing a beat. They would rush at her, but she put them down like nothing. She was smiling. Things began to blur and fade, though. He was still there, so was she, but no longer human. She was a tiger, her claws outstretched and her fangs bared, deep brown eyes focused on the task. They had turn into a back of wild dogs, foolish to be attacking her. She would win, he knew. But the scene then faded to a mountain. He saw Talim there, she was wearing a sort of ceremonial dress, he thought. Decorated with feathers. She was sitting on a rock that jetted out overlooking the valley below. Yunsung was there, too, staring at the sun, looking proud. She was sitting next to a nest with a few baby birds in there. She picked one up and lifted it to show him, wherever he was.

"Aren't they cute?" she boasted. "My brothers and sisters. I have to protect them." 

"Just like you," Yunsung said. "To be taking care of other people before yourself. You think you can?"

She just smiled. A creature came out from the darkness. The same dog-like fiends from before? Kilik couldn't tell. Instantly, Talim was now an eagle. A small one, not quite mature yet. But she attacked the creature furiously, clawing at its eyes that looked hungrily after the hatchlings. Valiant effort as it was, the eagle was more of a nuisance then a threat, so the creature ignored her attacks and inched its way to the nest. But a brilliant flash of light stopped it in its tracks and there before them all stood a phoenix, bright and confident. It attacked the creature, sending a jet of flame and scorching its fur. It ran off, yelping and with its tail between its legs. 

"You've got a lot to learn, y'know," the phoenix urged. The small eagle landed on his head playfully. 

"Yeah, yeah." 

They both looked out to the horizon. The blazing sun. Brilliant orange and pink and lavender. The setting sun. again. Calling him back. Telling him to return. It was enough for one sitting, the wind whispered. Wake up…

And so he did, his eyes opening wide in many ways. The sun was setting behind the buildings and trees. The breeze warmed blew through his hair, a sweet flowery smell in the air. How late… was it? He had slept all this time?

His soul… has never died? That dream… and that means… so, they were the ones the woman was talking about, then. 

_ I found them_, he thought. _Now what? Was that the hard part…._

Or is the hard part yet to come…

===========================

**A/N**: Oh god, this took WAY too long to get out. But yeah, no excuses. I'm sorry, guys. X__x. 

Anyway, not much to say for this chapter. Change of perspective, for one. Characterization fun. Yay for Xianghua and Kilik.

The story in general, I've got up to chapter six summarized, and I went on to outline the whole story. Ended up with a weird problem. I have two completely different ending ideas that are…well completely different. And I like them BOTH. One's a little more screwed up than the other… but it's fun. I dunno. Maybe I do them both and just have an alternate ending option? Heh…that would be interesting. Cause technically…they can work well together if I play the pieces right… bleh, we'll see. 

**Preview: Ch 4 – Weapon Master**

Everyone gets letters from Mr. Sorel. They decide to check out what he has to say, but it means going to his house. How weird…

But even weirder is the offer he makes to them! Which includes swords. Lots and lots of swords. So, maybe he IS a little crazy, but then again… the kids all feel some sort of strange attraction to the idea and especially the weapons that they wind up dealing with. Perhaps it's… fate?

Two more characters come in, so look forward to that!

**Review Corner**: ok, bear with me. I hope I didn't miss anybody's reviews…there were a lot to go through this time around. Thanks! 

Zerachiel: Sorry for the delay!! Here's this chapter, the next one should come out soon. Thanks for the review:

Xingy: Hehe, thank you muchly! I'm glad you're liking this thus far. I try to keep good details without overdoing it. I'm close to finding a happy medium for writing style, so. Yayzor. XD

QueenDragonGoddess: The characters are gonna come pouring in from this point on. I think I'll have about two per chapter, perhaps skipping a few. I've yet to decide what to do about the non-humans cause I can't have them in the modern setting. So, that's going to take some planning and they might not be in here for a while. But everyone else will be in the story soon. I 3 Talim to death as well. XD Thanks!

Somebody/Hero_Genkaku: Hero's right, it's ok to try and make guesses! Unfortunately, it's not Siegfried. The character is part of that little "clan" of sickly looking people. I warn you, I'm gonna have nightmare be a pretty mean guy for a while… but that's all I'm telling you right now. ^^;;; 

Hwoarangsguardie: yeah, you're right. I'll have to fix them come summary chapter (I'll explain that later). As far as pairings… I think I've got some ideas for couples and love triangles. Drama, woot! I am concidering Cassie/Siegfried as one of them, so, I'll keep you updated with that. I do want Sophitia to stay with her husband, I'm kind of a sucker for cannon. XD

Well, that's it! No "to the readers" this week, I'm going straight into the next chapter, mainly cause I want to get to chapter six ASAP. XD 

Thanks again, please continue to review! 

-Isa


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